Year in Review: Gorzalenny started the year shifting between the rotation in Triple-A and the bullpen in Pittsburgh before the organization traded him to the Cubs at the end of July. In Chicago, he started seven games but also spent some time pitching out of the ‘pen. Overall, he got just 47 big league innings and posted an ugly 5.55 ERA, indicating he is still struggling to replicate the success he had in the minors and in his 2007 season as a starter in Pittsburgh. But digging deeper, things looked better than they appeared on the surface: Gorzelanny had an xFIP of 3.71, he struck out a batter an inning, and he walked just 3.2 per nine innings. Those numbers were even better if you look only at his time as a starter. The sample size is small, just 47 innings, but the peripherals are encouraging in spite of the poor ERA.

The Year Ahead: Gorzalenny should get a shot to be the No. 5 starters for the Cubs in 2010. Given his numbers in the minors (career FIP of 2.89 with a K/BB ratio above 3.00), he has the potential to be a solid Major League starting pitcher, and he flashed some of that in his limited innings in 2009. But his 400 innings as big league pitcher show someone who walks far too many batters given his underwhelming strikeout and ground-ball numbers. A projection of 160 innings, 4.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 130 strikeouts, and around eight wins is reasonable, but there is considerable spread about it. He could continue to struggle and post an ERA around 5.00, or could realize the potential of his minor league numbers and break out with a sub-4.00 ERA and 160 strikeouts in 190 innings. You might want to leave Gorzelanny on the waiver wire until he shows his cards in 2010. (Dave Allen)

Profile: After a pair of putrid seasons, Tom Gorzelanny rebuilt his value in 2010 with the Cubs. His control was a bit suspect, as it has been for most of his career, but he survived by striking out an above average number of hitters and limiting home runs. The good news, then, is that he's headed to a park that suppresses homers a bit better than Wrigley Field. While his xFIP suggests that his performance might decline in 2011, if he uses Nationals Park to his advantage he can keep down his home run rate, and, therefore, his ERA. Other than that it's tough to see how he'll provide much value. He's no better than average in strikeouts, and his career WHIP is 1.49, including 1.50 last season. With the Nationals he might have trouble racking up wins, too. (Joe Pawlikowski)

The Quick Opinion: Tom Gorzelanny did a good job keeping his ERA low last season with the Cubs, and he could repeat that in Washington's more pitcher-friendly park. ERA is really the only category he'll help in, since he doesn't figure to pile up the wins and his WHIP has been high for his career.

Profile: Gorzo served as a swingman for Washington in 2011, making 15 starts and relief appearances apiece. He started the season in the rotation, but he suffered an elbow injury in late May and lost his spot when Chien-Ming Wang returned to health. Not surprisingly, Gorzelanny was much more effective out of the ‘pen (22.1 IP, 20/6 strikeouts per walk, 2.76 FIP) than pitching every fifth day (82.2 IP, 75/27 K/BB, 4.57 FIP). He showed better control than in years past, but that seemingly came with more long balls (1.3 home runs per nine). Gorzelanny was considered a non-tender candidate, but the Nats retained him and he could even start in 2012 with prospects Brad Peacock and Tom Milone now in Oakland. (David Golebiewski)

The Quick Opinion: As a lukewarm starter with a sub-90s fastball and a history of elbow and shoulder problems, Gorzelanny may be better suited for relief. That kills his fantasy value, though he could get back in the picture if Wang’s shoulder, Ross Detwiler’s hip or Stephen Strasburg’s innings total becomes an issue.

Profile: After primarily pitching out of the rotation for the bulk of his eight year career, Gorzelanny had a nice 2012 in the bullpen in Washington. His 2.88 ERA was the best mark he's had yet but the underlying numbers say it's more of the same for the lefty, pitching to a 3.97 FIP/4.21 xFIP, numbers in line with his performance since 2009. However, after having an average fastball velocity of 89.6 mph in 2011, Gorzelanny dialed it up a bit to 90.9 mph in 2012. It's no surprise that his velocity increased (even if it was ever so slightly) as a result of pitching out of the pen and that should help him going forward in 2013. Of course, there is no guarantee he stays in the bullpen as the back of the Brewers rotation isn't a model of health or experience. For his career, Gorzelanny has a 4.61 ERA as a starter and a 3.23 ERA as a reliever so the Nationals were probably onto something. Although the peripheral numbers weren't anything to write home about and Gorzelanny isn't someone who makes you swoon, he might have found his niche as a middle reliever out of the pen and it wouldn't be surprising to see him have continued success out of the pen. (Ben Pasinkoff)

The Quick Opinion: After pitching as a full-time reliever for the first time in his career last year on the Nationals and finishing with the best ERA of his career (2.88), Tom Gorzelanny will continue to pitch out of the bullpen this year for the Brewers after agreeing to a two-year contract.

Profile: Gorzelanny's overall numbers are slightly misleading. His 3.90 ERA and 3.94 FIP include ten starts. Not only does the lefty project as a reliever in 2014, but he also didn't perform as well in the starting rotation. Thus, the numbers are skewed. As a reliever, Gorz owned a 2.70 ERA and struck out 8.59 per nine. One must acknowledge the ridiculous .198 batting average on balls in play as a reliever, but it's important to note he posted a 2.88 ERA as primarily a reliever a year earlier. The relief role allows him to face primarily lefties, where he's most effective. To be truly relevant in fantasy leagues, however, he'd need to accumulate saves. And he'd have to leapfrog a few arms to have a legitimate shot at the ninth inning. In the end, Gorzelanny is one of the myriad of fine middle relievers that will go undrafted, and that's how it should be. (JP Breen)

The Quick Opinion: After bouncing around between the Brewers' rotation and their bullpen, Gorzelanny is poised for an entire season of middle relief. That role seems to fit the southpaw best, but it doesn't make him draftable. Middle relievers must be truly exceptional to receive that kind of designation.

Profile: Gorzelanny missed the first half of 2014 with a shoulder injury, but the left-hander was effective out of the bullpen upon his return. He's a free agent entering his age-32 season. While he worked exclusively out of the 'pen last season, he's historically been used as a swingman. Over his career, he's posted a tolerable 4.62 ERA in 669.2 innings as a starter compared to a strong 2.88 ERA in 171.2 innings as a reliever. His flexibility and success in the middle innings should ensure interest his services. One cause for concern is is velocity, which declined two mph between 2013 and 2014. In the past, he worked around 89 mph as a starter and 91 mph as a reliever. In 2014, his relief work ticked in at 89 mph, which may mean his days as a useful spot starter are behind him. Perhaps a healthy offseason will remedy the velocity decline. (Brad Johnson)

The Quick Opinion: The swingman is hitting free agency after missing chunks of 2014 due to a shoulder injury. There is some cause to worry about his viability in future seasons, but his track record as a reliable middle innings arm should ensure a job in 2015.

Profile: After a decent 2012-2014 stretch, Tom Gorzelanny took a step back in 2015. The left-handed swingman appeared in 48 games out of a weak Tigers bullpen, but saw a fairly precipitous decline in his strikeout rate. His dropoff seems to correlate well with a late 2014 shoulder injury, although his velocity and swinging strike rate did tick back up in 2015, so maybe the news isn't all bad. Perhaps the biggest driver in his lack of success last year was an elevated walk rate (13%), although his zone and first strike rates weren't too far off his career norms, so maybe there is still a bit of hope to be had this year. The free agent inked a minor league deal with Cleveland this offseason, so there is no promise of a full-time major league gig. That said, he's been relatively effective against lefties at all stages of his career (3.63 xFIP against), so that, coupled with his experience, will probably get him some time in the Indians 'pen. From a fantasy standpoint, it's hard to envision him having any value outside of perhaps a sporadic spot start in super-deep leagues, so don't feel bad about leaving him off your cheat sheet altogether. (Colin Zarzycki)

The Quick Opinion: Practically the definition of fungible, left-handed swingman from 2012-2014,Tom Gorzelanny's 2015 didn't go quite as well in Detroit (5.95 ERA, 4.97 xFIP). Given okay velocity and swinging strike rates, it is not unreasonable to expect him to bounce back a bit from those numbers in 2016, but 33-year-old middle relievers aren't useful for fantasy purposes.